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Anti-School Choice Protesters Resort to Violent Rhetoric

Anti-school choice activists converged on Washington D.C. to protest against school choice for all Pennsylvania students. The activists were remarkably uninformed on the issue and asserted many straw man arguments and class warfare demagoguery, into a debate focused on allowing all students access to quality education.

FreedomWorks’ presence was felt as we launched a counter-protest of roughly 10 employees. The activists were soon being crowded out by the message of freedom, opportunity and quality education for all children. Desperation set in as certain protesters unfortunately resorted to violent and threatening rhetoric:

On their last day in session this term, the Supreme Court justices agreed to hear the case Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. The plaintiffs are challenging the public-sector “agency shop” arrangements that were validated by the Supreme Court decision Abood v. Detroit Board of Education in 1977.

For the past year, the Supreme Court has been mulling the case of Harris v. Quinn, in which the state of Illinois was asserting its authority to collect union dues from non-union members working as home health care workers under a Medicare program. The state’s argument was that, since public sector labor unions negotiate contracts that benefit non-union members in terms of higher wages and better working conditions, it would be acceptable to expect these workers to pay union dues in return.

One of the greatest barriers to education reform, and the symbol of public sector intransigence, is teacher tenure. These statutes make it nearly impossible and incredibly expensive to fire poorly performing teachers. But in a landmark victory for education reform, a California judge ruled that teacher tenure and a slew of other job protection clauses are unconstitutional and should not be enforced by school districts.

The Internal Revenue Service is attempting to change the standards for tax exempt status for 501(c)(4) groups. Rather than sticking to enforcing the will of Congress, the IRS, with the full blessing of the political operation in the White House, wants to ensure they won't have to harass conservative and tea party groups about their tax exempt status applications, because those groups won't even bother to apply. They need to hear from America.

Covered California, the state's Obamacare health insurance exchange, announced on May 14 that it had awarded $37 million to promote the implementation of the health insurance law. Unsurprisingly, many of the groups selected to receive grants have a similar political bent -- or vested financial interest in selling health care services.

The Chicago Teachers Union went on strike Sunday night, citing such issues as compensation, health benefits, and job security. Chicago is out of money, the State of Illinois is even more out of money, and in tough economic times, no one has job security.

On November 8th, Ohio voters will decide on two critical ballot initiatives, Issues 2 & 3, that have national implications for the Tea Party movement. If both measures pass it will be a huge victory in our efforts to stop ObamaCare and the corrupt influence of Big Labor.

Pledge to Vote YES on Issues 2 & 3 FreedomWorks and our local tea party allies in Ohio are teaming up to support Governor Kasich's union reform agenda and stop ObamaCare in its tracks this November by urging our members to vote YES on Ballot Issues 2 & 3. When SB 5 was passed last spring, it helped balance Ohio's budget by giving local governments desperately-needed flexibility to renegotiate certain aspects of public sector union contracts. It also introduced a system of merit pay for public employees, while asking them to contribute a small percentage of their income to their own benefit and pension plans.